Method of making woven fabrics



l- 1933- R. c. SIMMONS 1,923,168

IETHOD OF MAKING WOVEN FABRICS Filed Feb. 5, 1931 Mfxa Patented Aug. 22, 1933 UNITED STATES union or MAKING wovmv FABRICS Ralph 0. Simmons, Beverly, Mass., alslgnor to l United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. 1., a Corporation of New Jersey 1 Application February 5, 1931. Serial No. 513,628

8 Claims. (CL 28-1) This invention relates to methods of making woven fabrics.

For certain purposes a woven fabric which is limp and flexible in one direction and relatively stiff and inflexible at right angles to that direction is desirable. Objects of this invention are to provide methods of making a woven fabric having these characteristics. A woven fabric having the above-mentioned characteristics is adapted for various purposes and is particularly advantageous for incorporation into soles and insoles for,boots and shoes for the purpose of providing in the shoes longitudinal flexibility and lateral rigidity.

The illustrated woven fabric has strands extending in one direction which are impregnated with a stiffening material such as hard rubber and strands extending at right angles to the first strands which are untreated with the stiffening material and hence are relatively flexible. It is to be understood, of course, that the strands of treated yarn may constitute either the warp or the filling of the fabric.

The method of the present invention by which the above-mentioned woven fabric may be produced consists in treating yarn which is to constitute the warp or filling of the fabric by subjecting it to the action of an impregnating bath containing a stiffening agent and then weaving the fabric, employing for the filling or warp, respectively, untreated yarn. Preferably the stiffening agent employed is capable of being rendered active, that is hard and insoluble after the fabric is woven by suitable treatment, for example by subjecting it to a moderately high temperature.

It has been found that a closed and better fabric is produced when the treated yarn is employed as the filling. It is desirable, therefore, to select as the stiffening agent material which, when the yarn is impregnated therewith and dried, will be inactive, that is will not impart thereto such stiffness as to interfere with the manipulation of the yarn in weaving so that the yarn can be readily handled in the bobbin of a shuttle, the fabric, after it is woven, being subjected to a treatment such as heat treatment to activate the stiffening material, that is to harden the material with which the filling is impregnated, thereby producing a fabric which is still in one drection and limp in the otHer. It is also desirable that the material with which the filling is impregnated be water resistant or be rendered so by treatment of the fabric after weaving. Various flbers may be employed for the yarn of the fabric, satisfactory results having been obtained by the use of cotton yarn as the warp and jute yarn as thefllling.

Various materials may be employed for imparting stiffness to the 'fllling yarn such as certain colloids, proteids, gums and resins. For example, a solution of hard rubber in the form of a varnish has given satisfactory results. Synthetic gums or resins are also suitable since they can be readily obtained in soluble form suitable for use in impregnating the yarn and can be rendered hard and insoluble by heat treatment at a temperature which will not be injurious to the fiber of the fabric. The synthetic gum or resin known as Bakelite has been found satisfactory. Thus jute yarn may be impregnated with a varnish or solution of the character referred to, allowed to dry and utilized as the filling of the fabric woven. Yarn so treated is quite flexible enough for use in the shuttle, and by treating the fabric so woven with heat the varnish may be hardened and rendered insoluble.

The fabric so produced has, of course, a flexible warp and a relatively inflexible filling and is hence limp and flexible in one direction and relatively still and inflexible in a direction at right angles to that direction. In using this material in the manufacture of soles, it is de-- sirable to cut the soles or parts thereof with the stiffened yarn or filling strands extending laterally, that is from side to side, of the sole, so that the sole will be flexible in the direction in which it is bent in use and relatively inflexible as to flexure about an axle extending length- 90 wise of the sole.

While a textile fabric having a single ply is preferable for some uses, it is preferable under other conditions to employ a textile fabric of two or more plies. Accordingly, as illustrated, a fabric having two plies is shown.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 represents a woven fabric made in accordance with the present invention, and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the fabric shown in Fig. 1.

The woven fabric provided by thepresent invention, which is still in one direction and limp in the other, consists, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, of limp warp threads 10, 12 and 14 which are preferably of soft, short fiber, cotton yarn and transverse or filling threads 16 which are preferably of coarse, relatively stiffylong no fiber material such as jute and are treated by with phenolic condensation product, providing a warp of yarn containing no phenolic condensation product, weaving the fabric, and then subjecting the fabric to heat treatment to render the phenolic condensation product hard and stiff.

7. That improvement in methods of making woven fabrics for shoe soles which consists in treating a warp or filling yarn with a solution of hard rubber, as an inactive stiffening agent, providing a filling or warp of cotton yarn in its natural condition, weaving the warp'and filling together to form a fabric, and heating the fabric to activate the stiffening agent thus rendering the treated yarn hard and stiff without affecting the cotton yarn.

8. That improvement in methods of making woven fabrics for shoe soles which consists in impregnating a warp or filling with a phenolic condensation product as an inactive stiffening agent, providing a filling or warp of cotton yarn in its natural condition, weaving said warp and filling together to form a fabric, and heating the fabric to activate the stiffening agent thus rendering the fabric stiff as to bending in one direction and leaving it limp as to bending in another direction.

RALPH C. SIMMONS.

Ill 

